With mirrors, the attainable mirror effect depends decisively on the illumination of the person or object to be reflected. The illumination should be free of glare and is to bring about a lighting, as uniform as possible, of the object to be mirrored, which can best be achieved by an indirect illumination.
Relatively large round mirrors, used by women in applying cosmetics, are known in the art, and are obtainable on the market. In such mirror forms it is a usual practice to arrange an annular fluorescent lamp or an incandescent bulb rearwardly of the mirror and to direct the light forwardly in the direction of the object to be mirrored from a matte frame that surrounds the mirror glass. In these known arrangements, however, there occur relatively great losses of light.
A serious drawback of such known forms of mirror execution lies in the fact that they are large and unwieldy. Thus, as wall mirrors and/or standing mirrors, they are unsuitable as an appliance for travel.
Illuminated mirrors are also known which, by means of tinted filters simulate daylight or night light, since it is well known that a make-up applied in daylight presents an effect different from make-up applied at night, and vice versa. Also, to effect these forms of mirror execution requires matters of complicated constructions in wall mirrors and stand mirrors.